Machine for removing meat from shells



April 12, 1949. o. A. SCHOENING MACHINE Fon REMOVING MEAT FROM SHELLS Filed April 27, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. URL/1 -00 Arm/m SCI/OE/V/IVG' ATTORNEY April 1949- o. A. SCHOENING I 2,467,158

MACHINE FOR REMOVING MEAT FROM SHELLS Filed April 27, 1946 4 sneaks-sheet s 64 INVENTOR. I

0214mm Ann/r1; Salem/ma ATTORNEY April 12, 1949.

o. A. SCHOENING MACHINE FOR REMOVING MEAT FROM SHELLS Filed April 27, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. Glam/Do Armn; Selma/we 2 WW I @TTORNEV Patented Apr. 12, 1949 MACHINE FOR REMOVING MEAT Y FROM SHELLS.

Orlando Atlantis S choenin Hawaii, assignor to Hawaiian g, Lanikai, Territory of Pineapple Company, Limited, Honolulu, Territory ofHawaii,

a corporation of Hawaii ApplicationApril 27, 1946, Serial- N0. 665,442

1. This invention relates to an eradicator machine for removing soft meat from relatively hard tou shells. Particularly, the invention relates [to such a machine adapted for the removal of pineapple meat from waste shells.

In the preparation of pineapple for canning, the whole fruit are treated in a. coring and sizing machine, usually the familiar Ginaca machine (an example of which is disclosed in Ginaca United States Patent No. 1,060,250), which severs the ends (top and butt) from the fruit and cuts a coredcylinder of 'meat from the remaining portion of thefruit body. Because ofthe 1mg: ularity of the shape of the fruit, this operation leaves a large amount of edible-meat attached to the shells. Eradicator apparatussuch as described in United States Patents of Stanley No. 2,195,193 and 2,320,054 has been successfully employed for the recovery of substantially all of the edible substance from the main or side portion of the shell but for treating the end shellsections. Becausefof the high curvature of the end shell sectionsand the irregularity of their sizes, shapes and relative thickness of shell and adhering meat, recovsuch apparatus isnot lsuitable ery of the meat from the shell ends has generally been regarded as impractical. I a

An object of the invention is to provide anojvel machine of the type referred to which is capable of successfully. recovering the meat from waste shell sections of irre'gular'size shape and thick-' ness such as these pineapple ends. Another object is to provide such a machine wherein the meat is accurately removed at its point of junc ture with the shell despite such irregularities so that substantially all of the meat is recovered .30 tached to the horizontal without fouling by inclusion of shell bits. A further object is to provide such a machine having features of construction enabling it to bacon.- nected directly to and to operate inconjunction with a coring and sizing machine, .such as the Ginaca machine, to receive the end shell sections and automatically process them asthey are discharged from the latter machine. j"

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from the ensuing particular descriptioniof the invention in conjunction with the appended drawings which, as willbe understood, illustrate only a preferred embodiment and application of the invention.

In the drawings: v i

Fig. l is a side elevation view of the machine shown attached "to" a portion of a pineapple coring and sizing machine for processing both the 6 Claims. (or. 14sec) Fig. 2 is. a vertical section view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the directionof the arrows;

Figs-3 is a detail perspective .view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and la; r Fig. 4 is a section view on line 4-4 of Fig.3, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a detail side elevation view of another portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 and 1a; Fig. 6 is a section view on line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a partial section, partial elevation view on line 1-1 of Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrows; v

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective viewyof another part of the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 1a. Referringnow to the drawings, and first to Figs. 1 and 1a, the machine as shown has a main frame composed of a pair of spaced U-shaped frame ,members In and I2, each of whichhas a vertically disposed leg which rests on the floor and a horizontally disposed leg which is attached to 'across arm [4 bolted to the frame of a Ginaca inachine' indicated at l6. Suspended from the horizontal leg of frame member ID by means of a bracket l8 (Fig. 2) is a differential gear unit 20 from which a driven shaft 22 projects laterally below the frame members and is rotatably mounted at its opposite end in a bearing 24 atleg of frame member l2. Shaft 22 is the drive shaft of the eradicator mechanism comprising, as shown, twin eradicator units designated generally by the reference numerals 26' and 28 spaced between frame members l0 and 12. These units are arranged to receive and simultaneously separately process the butt and top-end shell sections removed by the Ginaca machine and fed to the units by separate chutes hereinafter described.

,JEachof the units 26 and 28 comprises (Fig. 2) -a vertically disposed conveyor disc 30 having a hub 32 fixed by a set screw 34 to shaft 22 for about and adjacent the upper periphery: ordiscr 40 are tied together near" 30. The two frames their forward ends by a tie bolt 44 (Fig. 1a)

Each unit also has a second curved frame section 46 extending about the periphery of'thedisc'w from a point spaced from the front end of frame section 40 to a point below and to. therear of the axis of the disc. tied together by a tie bolt 48' (Fig; Ila-) andjare' fixedly supported by means of a support bolt 50 fixed to frame member l2 and to the adjacent frame section 46.

web disposed horizontally (i. e., parallel to the disc axis) and the other vertically. the horizontal web extending toward the cl'eated race of disc 30 and having its free end disposed 'cio'se to the disc periphery beyond the outer ends of cleats 36.v The horizontal webs of the frame sec tions form guards to prevent pineapple shell portions from sliding radially of the cleats and discs30.

Loosely surrounding the hub 32 of each disc 30,. opposite the cleated face of disc 3ll,iis a. substantially complete disc 52 (Figs. 1 and 2 extending radially from the hub toa point adiacent the inner ends of cleats 36. Hub's 32 are free tc rotate within the discs 52 which are held against longitudinal motion with respect to the hub's-by the contiguous face of the disc 30 and'hy a retaining ring 54 (Fig. 2) fastenedto the outer ehd of hub 32 by a set screw 56. The thickness of discs 52 is approximately equal to the length of the horizontal webs of frame sections 40 and 46 so thatthe peripheries of discs 52 form an inner guard correspondin to the outer guard formed by the frame sections, and the outer surface of the discs 52 is substantially in the same plane as the surface of the vertical webof the-frames'ections. Frame sections 40, 46' and disc 52'. of each eradicator unit define between them a curved processing track to the lower end of which the pineapple ends are fed and along which they are carried by rotation of the discs 30.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 2", 3 and. 4, there are located in the space betweeILthe' frame section 46 and the disc 52 a plurality of curved grid bars 58 extending longitudinally of the space in radially spaced relation, the bars bein concentric with the axis of rotation of the discs 3'0 and having their surfaces arranged parallel to that axis. Bars 58 are supported near their lower ends by bars 60 to which their outer edges are made fast, bars 60 extending transversely of" the grid bars and being fastened at their opposite ends to frame section 46 and disc 52 bybolts 52. Bolts 62 pass loosely through bars 60 and project substantially above their outer surface. Between the bolt heads and bars 60 are interposed coil springs 64 so that the grid bars are resiliently supported for lateral motion away from disc 30 against the pressure of the springs.

The upper ends of the grid bars are similarly supported by a plate 66 (Figs. 1, 5 and 6) attached at one side to disc 52 by a bolt 68 passing loosely through the plate and having a coil spring 10' iiiterposed between the bolt head and outer surface of the plate and at the other side attached to frame section 46 by a double headed bolt 12 fixed to the plate and extending loosely through The two frame sections ltt'a're- The frame" sections 40 and 46 may, as shown, he formed of angle iron with. one

Hit-

tween the bolt head and the plate.

the vertical web of frame 45, a, spring 14 being interposed between the frame 46 and the head 12' of the bolt to resist movement of the bolt through the frame. Plate 66 is also connected at its upper end (Figs. 5 and 7) to frame section 49 by means of abolt 16 passing loosely through the plateand having a coil spring 18 interposed be- Plate 65,

therefore, supports the upper ends of the grid resiliently, permitting lateral motion of the bars away from disc 30 under pressure in the same. manner as the lower end supports.

Referring; particularly to Fig. 3, the lower ends or. the gridlbars are tapered outwardly and are joined at their tips by a bar against which abuts the curved end of a feed chute 82 in the case of eradicatorunit 26 and a feed chute 3-5 in the. case of eradicator unit 28, under a spring clip 86 on the end of each chute, these chutes receiving the pineapple butts and tops from the Gina'c'a; machine and conducting them to the respective eradicatorunits. As shown, eradicator unit 26 is arranged to receive the tops and its chute 82 is connected to the top discharging port of the Ginaca machine while unit 28 is arranged tore'cei've the butts and its chute 84 is. connected to the butt discharging port of the Ginaca machine; The chutes 82, 84' arein the form of narrow tubes of substantially, rectangular cross-section inclined downwardly from the Ginaca machine-to; the eradicator'units, designed to deliver the pineapple end to: the. eradicator unit disposed inra vertical plane with its shellside toward the disc in.

The inannerin which: the chutes 82, 84 are connected into. the Ginaca machine is diagrammatl Cally indicated in Fig. 2. The chute 84 extends into the butt discharging port of the Ginac'a machine, at the point where the butts of the pineapples carried in the revolving Ginac'a turret are severed'by a knife indicated at 88. v The butts are received by the chute in the position in which theyare out, that is, substantially vertically arranged with their meat face disposed to the left in Fig. 2 and they roll oi slide down the chute in that position to the point Of entrance into the eradicator unit 28. The chute 82 extends into the top discharging port of the Ginaca machine where the tops are 'se'vle'd by a. knife, indicated at'SII. Since the meat face or the tops disposed oppositely to that of the butts and since the two eradioator. units are arranged to treat the ends racin in the same direction, the inlet end of chute 82 is arranged to permit the cut top to turn by gravity from its cut positiomas indicated in Fig. 2, the chute then conducting the top in its reversed position to the ei'adi-cator unit 26.

The discs 30 of the eradicator units are rotated in the counterclockwise. direction viewedas in Fig. 1. As the pineapple ends reach the ends of the feedchu'te's' 82.84, their shells S are gripped by the cleats 36 on the discs and theyare carried forwardly with their meat face M pressed into engagement'with grid bars 58. The inner edges of the grid bars cut through the meat to the inner surface of the shell along which they slide as the end carried about the axis of rotation of the disc 30'. The shell is tough and is not readily penetrated by the inner edges of the grids, which are" rounded as shown in Fig. 4. The grids therefore act to flatten out the ends which. are of substantial curvature when presented to the mation of the shell by the grids so that upon flattening, if the shell thickness is greater than the minimum clearance between the grid bars and cleats, the grids will yield bodily away from the disc 30 until the clearance is equal to the shell thickness. Thus, the units are self adjustable to accommodate ends of widely different shellthickness and jamming of the machine and cutting of the shell are prevented. Also, the grid supports are capable of yielding more at one end than the other, as is desirable in case the shell thickness is difierent at opposite sides of the top or butt.

As they are carried beyond the opposite or upper ends of the grid bars, the pineapple ends encounter a knife 92 (Figs. 1, 5 and 7) having a flat sharpened cutting edge extending transversely across and contiguous to the ends of the grid bars, the knife edge being disposed at an angle to the radius of the disc 30 as shown in Fig. 1. Knife 92 is mounted at its opposite ends on blocks 94, 96 depending from plate 68, block 94 being located in the space between the adjacent ends of frame sections 40 and 46 and block 96 lying in a gap 52' provided in the support disc 52. The blocks are provided with removable caps fastened by screws 98 and the ends of the knife rest in transverse slots between the blocks and these caps. A bolt I extends loosely through plate 66 and is threaded through block 94 so that its end may be tightened against the knife when positioned in the block to prevent endwise movement of the knife. The knife is positioned with its cutting edge in the plane ofthe inner edges of the grid bars so that it severs-the meat from the shells in that plane which is approximately the plane of the inner surface of the flattened shell of the top or butt to which, as previously explained, the inner edges of the grid bars penetrate.

It will be recalled that the plate I56 to which knife 92 is attached forms the resilient support for the upper ends of the grid bars. This is an important feature of the apparatus since the knife is thereby rendered self-adjustable to the plane of the inner surface of the shell, despite wide variations in the thickness of the shell and of the meat layer between successive tops or butts passing through the machine or between opposite sides of a top or butt. Thus the grid acts as a gauge controlling the plane of cut of the knife by the depth of penetration of the grid bars into the meat layer.

As shown in Fig. 5, the meat layer M cut from the shell, which has been subdivided into strips by the action of the grid bars, passes over the knife and onto an outwardly curved guide I02 supported by the plate 66 and projecting through an aperture in the plate into abutting relation with the rear edge of the knife. Guide I02 deflects the meat laterally into a downwardly and forwardly inclined chute I04 supported on plate 66 (Fig. 1a, broken away in Figs. land 5) down which the meat slides into a receiving trough I05 at the front of the machine.

The flattened shells from which the meat has been cut remain engaged with the cleats of disc 30 which carries the shells by its continued rotation beneath the knife and the upper portion of plate 66 and then rearwardly beneath a guard plate I08 bolted to frame section 40 and disc 52 (Fig. 1), which retains the shells against the cleats, to a deflector IIO which separates the shells from the cleats and discharges them from the machine. The deflector for the unit 26 is mounted on the adjacent frame I0 while the deflector for the unit 28 is mounted on a bracket I I2 fixed to cross arm I4.

Each deflector, as shown in detail in Fig. 8, isdisposed opposite the cleated face of disc 30 and comprises a flat deflector plate II4 arranged in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc, a guide wall .I I6 projecting upwardly from the outer edge of plate H4 in a plane substantially normal to said axis, and an attaching flange II 8 extending outwardly from the upper edge of wall H6. The inner edge of the'plate I I4 is provided with projections or teeth I20 which are aligned with and are slightly narrower than the spaces between the teeth 38 of cleats 36 and which project into said spaces to force the shell off the cleats onto the forward flat portion of the plate II4 with a wiping action. Plate II4 slopes downwardly from its inner to its outer ends so that the shells stripped from disc 30 thereby roli-or'slide from the outer end and fall downwardly between the Ginaca machine and the eradicator and may be conducted away through a suitable chute in the floor.

The machine is driven from the main shaft I22 of the Ginaca machine (Fig. 1) to which an extension I24 is connected and journaled at its end in a bearing I26 on a bracket I28 fixed to frame III. A sprocket wheel I30 on shaft extension I24 is connected by chain I32 to sprocket I34 on the drive shaft unit 20- which operates the drive shaft 22 of the eradicator units, as previously explained.

The machine as shown is especially adapted for operation as an attachment or adjunct to a pineapple coring and sizing machine for recovering meat from the pineapple ends removed in the latter machine. It will be understood, however, that the novel mechanism of the invention may be embodied in other forms than that selected to illustrate the invention and that the utility of said mechanism in the same or other form is not restricted to treatment of pineapple ends but the same may be usefully applied to the treatment of other portions of the pineapple shell and generally to the recovery of a relatively soft layer of meat from a hard, tough, flexible shell or rind.

I claim:

1. An eradicator machine for removing a rela tively soft layer of meat from a hard, tough, flexible shell comprising a conveyor having shell gripping means on a face thereof, a knife having a cutting edge extending transversely of the path of travel of the conveyor adjacent the shell gripping face thereof for severing meat from the shells carried by the conveyor, a grid disposed opposite the shell gripping face of the conveyor immediately in advance of said knife and including a plurality of grid bars spaced laterally and extending longitudinally of the path of the conveyor and projecting toward the conveyor to penetrate the meat layer of the shells carried by the conveyor, means resiliently mounting the portion of said grid adjacent said knife for yielding away from the conveyor under predetermined pressure of a shell on said grid bars, and means connecting said knife to said resiliently mounted grid portion for movement of the cutting edge of the knife toward and away from the conveyor in conformity with the movements of said grid portion.

2. An eradicator machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient mounting means includes resilient supports at each side of said grid and knife member arranged to permit differential I36 of differential gear 7 yielding ofsaid grid and knife at opposite sides thereof 3. An eradicator machine for-removingairelia- ,tively-soft layer of meat from a hard; tough, flexible shell comprising a conveyor having a substantially fiat surface provided: with shell v gripping mjeans, means for'feed'ing the shells to the gripping means uniformly with the meat ,l'ayer outwardly of the conveyor surface, means for flattening the shells, against the conveyor; surface comprisinga gn'd having bars, extending longitudinallyand spaced'transversely of the pathof'travel of. the conveyor and. projecting towardthe conveyor so that-their-inner edges penetrate the meat layeron the shells carriedbythe conveyor, means resilient ly mounting said grid for yielding away firolm'the conveyor under predetermined pressure of ashell on said'grid, and a knife fixed to said grid and movable therewith having acutting. edge disposed transversely of the path oi'travel oi the conveyor substantially. in the plane of the in'neredges Ofjthe grid bars forsevering a meat layer from ashell carried on the conveyor and flattened by said grid. 1

4; An eradicator meta-mas claimed in c aim a wherein said; resilient mounting means includes resilient supports at each side of said; grid an d knife member arranged to permit differential yielding of said grid and knife at opposite sides thereof.

. 5 An eradicatormachine asclaimed in, claim-B which includes a chute, associated with said knife forreceiving the meat severed from the shells by the knife and means engageable with the shells subsequent :to said knife to 'separate the shells fromsaidgripping means and. remove them from the machine.

6. An eradicator machine as claimed in claim 3 wherein said conveyor is rotatable about an axis normalize the shell gripping face thereof and said grid bars are curved about said axis.

ORLANDO A'rimrrls SCHOENING.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the me of this patent:

' UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name v Date 661,440 Burno Nov. 6, 1900 1,060,250 Ginaca Apr. 29, 1913 1,102,011 Cunha June 30, 1914 1,264,823- LWiS Apr. 30', 1918 1,350,096 Fisher Aug. 17, 1920 1,370,634 Dow'son Mar. 8, 1921 1,444,535 Barter Feb. 6, 1923 2,023,810 Homer Dec. 10, 1935 

